Nolan Bushnell , founder of Atari and Chuck E. Cheese, looks to be a new member of the Microsoft Defense Force. In an interview with Red Herring, Bushnell took the time to trash the entire PlayStation brand, not just the PlayStation 3. While we can expect the SDF to come out swinging, Bushnell's comments leave even those of us sitting on the fence with raised eyebrows.
Bushnell is absolutely convinced the PS3 will fail ... and not just fail to reach the vaunted nine-digit milestone for the third time, but outright flop. Bushnell told Red Herring that "It would not surprise me if a year from now they'll be struggling to sell 1 million units ... I think in the the number of early adopters you have is actually around 300,000." Furthermore, he goes on to say the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 were merely accidents, reaping rewards not by being the best, but by being in the right place at the right time.
The PlayStation did not succeed because Sony had a Field of Dreams moment; it was supported because developers loved how it was easier to develop than the cumbersome Saturn and consumers bought it because the software was far cheaper than the N64. My PlayStation didn't just fall off the shelf and into my shopping cart, I bought it for a reason. While it would take a fanatic to believe the PS3 will sell over 100 million units, thinking the PS3 will only sell one million units by this time next year -- and fail to sell out of the launch units -- is crazy.
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